These quick and easy baked beans start with canned pork and beans, with some added onion, bacon and more! Needs only 90 minutes in the oven! Perfect for Summer entertaining.
56-60ozcanned Pork and Beans, four 14 or 15 oz. cans *see Note 1 below
3/4cupFancy molasses, *see Note 2 below
1teaspoondry mustard, or 1 Tbsp yellow prepared mustard
3Tablespoonswhite vinegar
1/4cupcatsup
1mediumonion, peeled *see Note 3
5-6slicesbacon, uncooked, diced
Prevent your screen from going dark
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F (regular bake setting/not fan assisted).
In a large bowl, combine the canned beans, molasses, mustard, vinegar and catsup. Stir to combine well, then pour into an oven-safe casserole dish (about 2.5 qt).
Peel the whole onion, then using a sharp knife, cut an "X" into it, from the topping, cutting down about 3/4 of the way into the onion. Spread the onion out a bit, then place into the centre of the bean mixture. Scatted the diced bacon evenly over the top.
Bake UNCOVERED, at 350F for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 400F. Remove the onion and discard. Stir the beans well. Return to 400F oven for 10-15 minutes more, or until the beans are nicely browned and syrupy on top.
Notes
Pork and Beans in Tomato Sauce is probably the best option, for a classic baked bean flavour. Using Pork and Beans with Molasses will produce a deep browned, molasses-forward pot of beans. A nice option to try is to use 2 of each! Experiment to find which you prefer.
Molasses is usually labelled as "Fancy" and is recommended for the smoothest molasses flavour. Cooking Molasses is a little harsher tasting. If that's all you have on hand, use less than specified. Blackstrap molasses is probably too harsh in flavour for this recipe.
Instead of placing the whole onion in the centre of the beans, you can thinly slice it and stir it in with the bean mixture, if you prefer. The onion probably won't break down completely during the cooking though, so you will have pieces of onion, along with the beans.
Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card, for more tips on making this recipe. You will also find Step-by-Step photos there, as well.